Legendary Performances

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Like other Shout Factory compilations of vintage clips by country stars produced by the staff of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, this is a smartly chosen and well-assembled collection spotlighting the prime of a major icon, in this case Merle Haggard. The 15 clips, all taken from television shows and all in color, span 1968 to 1983, tapping such obscure sources as the Country Music Holiday and Billy Walker's Country Carnival programs. Many of Haggard's biggest, most celebrated hits are featured, including "Branded Man," "The Bottle Let Me Down," "Mama Tried," "I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am," "Workin' Man Blues," "Ramblin' Fever," and in perhaps the DVD's most compelling sequence, performances of "The Fightin' Side of Me" and "Okie from Muskogee" on a 1970 episode of The Porter Wagoner Show. There's also a 1968 clip of the B-side "I Started Loving You Again," covered for a 1975 Top Ten country hit by Sammi Smith under the title "Today I Started Loving You Again." Haggard himself doesn't change much from beginning to end, holding stage center with somewhat stolid amiability and fairly minimal movement (and usually playing guitar, though sometimes singing without an instrument), though perhaps the later scenes are a little looser and more relaxed. Bonnie Owens (married to Haggard during most of this period) is often visible on background vocals, and you can also get glimpses of members of his esteemed backing band the Strangers. Some of the sets, particularly on the earlier clips (and especially on one that finds Haggard singing while encircled by cheap inanimate animal replicas), are notably low-budget and dated, but in an entertaining way. The two bonus features present footage of his 1994 induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame and a 16-minute 1981 interview at which he's accompanied by singer and then-wife Leona Williams. ~ Richie Unterberger